Posted on Monday, 4th August 2008 by Bruce
Several weeks ago, BadgerBlogger was sent a photograph of a worker emptying the waste by-product from a maintenance machine into one of the storm sewers located on the access road into Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, just off of Harbor Drive, and steps away from Lake Michigan. The storm sewer shown in the photograph is just adjacent to the entrance to Discovery World’s underground parking garage.
An investigative chain-of-events ensued, with e-mails being circulated among high-ranking members of city and county government, an offshoot of BadgerBlogger‘s inquiries. Various county supervisors and Milwaukee County Parks officials set out to answer the question: Who is this mystery employee, what is this machine he’s operating, and why is he emptying its waste directly into a city storm sewer?
At the same time, through industry experts, BadgerBlogger confirmed that this past June, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) purchased a Tennant model M20 ride-on floor scrubber for its recently developed Lakeshore State Park, just south of Discovery World. The machine, a staple in many manufacturing facilities, was purchased for the sole purpose of cleaning goose feces off the walkways in the area in and around the state park.
BadgerBlogger confirmed that the DNR maintains an office for the state park within the Discovery World complex, and furthermore had struck a deal with the museum to allow the DNR to store the machine in a space in the Discovery World parking garage, in exchange for the DNR using the machine to clean the parking garage floor on an “as needed” basis, as a courtesy to the museum.
Meanwhile, back in county government, the e-mails continued to circulate; one by one, county officials sought to dispel the possibility that the person in the photo was a county parks employee. Then, last Friday, BadgerBlogger obtained an e-mail sent to County Supervisor Gerry Broderick (who represents the area around Discovery World at the county level) by Discovery World President and CEO Joel Brennan. In the e-mail, Brennan (among others) in writing identifies the person in the photo as a DNR employee.
BadgerBlogger spoke today with Ronald Novak, Acting Superintendent of Lakeshore State Park, and the direct supervisor of the DNR employee in the photograph.
Novak tells BadgerBlogger that when the machine was purchased, the policy for emptying the waste dictated that the machine be emptied into a sanitary sewer located in the Discovery World parking garage, for which the DNR obtained a permit from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) to dump into the facility’s sanitary sewers. However, according to Novak, an unidentified Discovery World “employee” told the DNR employee not to empty the machine into the sanitary drain because it was causing a “traffic bottleneck” in the parking garage.
At that point, according to Novak, the employee made the decision to empty the machine into the storm drain, at street level, in front of the museum, where the process was “carried out three times”, according to Novak.
Novak affirmed that the contents of the machine’s sanitary hopper would not have exceeded “five gallons per dump, for a total of no more than 15 gallons” of waste in the storm sewer. When asked what, specifically, would be contained in the waste from the machine, Novak tells BadgerBlogger that the hopper would contain “a special, anti-bacterial foaming chemical, and goose feces.”
When asked if the employee had been disciplined for his decision, Novak assured BadgerBlogger that this was simply “a confusion issue” and that he saw no reason to discipline the employee. Novak indicated that he was “glad [this] happened, so that someone could witness it, it could be brought to his attention, and so that he could assure us that it wouldn’t happen again.”
When asked whether or not he felt that this employee’s actions were a violation of Milwaukee Municipal Code section 120-5, which expressly states that “no person may discharge, spill or dump substances or materials which are not entirely composed of storm water into receiving bodies of water, storm sewers or drainage facilities“, Novak told BadgerBlogger that “he could not say whether he’d feel this was a violation of any law” as he was “not familiar with that particular municipal code”.
Calls to Discovery World President and CEO Joel Brennan by BadgerBlogger on Monday, seeking comment, were unreturned.
County Supervisor Joe Rice, who, with Gerry Broderick, led the charge in seeking answers for the DNR’s now-admitted storm drain dumping, offers BadgerBlogger the following comments:
“An argument could be made that they [DNR] owe the public a higher standard of care than others when it comes to dumping of materials into a stormwater drain. If it is suggested that this is an isolated incident that should not require punishment, has the DNR or MMSD taken the same approach when there were single instances of alleged violations by private sector parties?”
As usual, good questions from County Supervisor Rice.
So, can the DNR dump “anti-bacterial foam and goose feces” into City of Milwaukee storm drains and dismiss it as an “isolated”, three-time practice?
It would appear, for the moment, the answer is “yes”, at least from the DNR’s perspective. During a visit to Lakeshore State Park this afternoon, two separate employees on two separate occasions told me they had been advised “not to discuss the storm drain issue” if anyone asked; one referring me back to Novak, and handing me one of his business cards.
Posted in Home | Comments (54)
54 Responses to “Why is this DNR employee emptying his goose-poop scrubber into a City of Milwaukee storm sewer?”
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August 5th, 2008 at 12:01 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Department_of_Natural_Resources
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is an agency of the state of Wisconsin. Its purpose is to preserve, protect, manage and maintain the natural resources of the state.
Maybe that guy missed that part at orientation.
(Funny, my anti-spam word is toast)
August 5th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I’m sure we can count on the righteous souls at the Sierra Club to file a lawsuit against the DNR. (snort!)
Listen for the crickets to chirp… Susan Mudd? anyone? anyone?
August 5th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Outstanding reporting, Bruce!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 8:09 am
[...] at BadgerBlogger has broken a heck of a story. Several weeks ago, BadgerBlogger was sent a photograph of a worker emptying the waste by-product [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 8:44 am
What a bunch of hypocrites.
BTW, how much was that goose poop Zamboni?
August 5th, 2008 at 8:53 am
One wonders if Ronald Novak would know, without being “familiar with that particular municipal code”, whether I would be in violation of the law for dumping 120 pounds of goose poo down the storm drain in his garage or basement?
I’m confident he could answer that question…
-jjg
DailyScoff.com
August 5th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Evidently that employee of DNR was not occupied invading homes or looking for “illegal” turkey-feeding stations in someone’s back yard.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Ron is right.. the DNR is hypocritical when it comes to who can dump into the sewage drains. If this was a police officer doing this the media would be all over it and discipline would have been inevitable. This employee, who may play dumb, should have some sort of discipline exercised against him. The DNR dictates what, when, how, and where MMSD can dump so I think the DNR should hold itself responsible.
If you the name of the guy I am willing to cite the bastard for the illegal disposal of goose sh*t into the storm drain.
The Dems at City Hall are not up to the task of doing anything about it.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:28 am
[...] good friend Badger Blogger has uncovered quite the story about a Wisconsin DNR employee dumping a chemical agent and goose feces into a [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Those with RV’s and campers, now you can dump your poop down the storm drains and use the excuse you didn’t know it was illegal. I’m pretty sure that is not going to work. But, hey, if it works for the DNR, go for it.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:11 am
When I was down there last week, do you want to know what I seen just yards from that storm sewer drain?
Yep, a bunch of kids swimming, the dock they are jumping from is part of Discovery World. Apparently they give sailing lessons from that location too.
I’ll bet their reaction would not be the same if my dog took a dump on that storm sewer.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:17 am
And let us remember that goose feces contains such pathogens as Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Salmonella, to name a few.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Yes Patrick, I’m pretty sure that is the Milwaukee Sailing Center’s classes.
http://www.sailingcenter.org
Many years ago, my child took a class there. The first day was on land. At the end of the day, they had to get into the water and flip their boat and learn water survial.
My child refused to do it, as by then, we stopped taking the dog swimming in Lake Michigan. He petrified to get into the Lake waters. He could not finish the class. They were kind enough to give us a refund.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Nice reporting, here. While there are certainly larger and more dangerous environmental issues to tackle out there in the world, I would consider this a “broken windows” facet of the problem. In other words, it’s absolutely important to follow up on and make sure it never happens again, and that appropriate discipline is meted out. Maintaining high standards means holding people accountable, regardless of politics.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Will the owner of the goose poop zambonie have to pay a $20 wheel tax?
August 5th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I suggest you all go to their website http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/es/enforcement/hotline.htm and submit the email reporting this incident by citing the evidence with a link to this website. A telephone call to the number might even proove more annoying to them.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
[...] http://badgerblogger.com/?p=7336 [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
It is hypocritical of the DNR to qualify this transgression as “a confusion issue†and to see no reason to discipline the employee. 15 gallons of goose poop doesn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things, but I can’t imagine a private citizen being caught doing this without being fined. Ignorance doesn’t excuse us from accountability, it shouldn’t excuse a DNR employee.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
15 gallons of goose shit caught on camera you mean. Try doing it yourself 3W. Try taking 3 five gallon buckets of shit and dumping them in front of some guy with a camera. I know. How about McDonalds dumps 3 five gallon buckets of grease down a sewer on camera. See what happens,.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I applaud you for this reporting. It was also nice to hear Charlie talk about this on his show this morning too. Great blog. (As usual).
August 6th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Just out of curiosity, do those drains downtown have the same little logos on them that the ones at State Fair park do? You know, the ones that say that nothing is to be drained into them but storm water? The ones that would put you on notice that you were violating the law?
And, would this DNR employee now no longer be held responsible for speeding if he hadn’t seen a speed limit sign for a while and didn’t know the Rules of the Road?
Just wondering….
August 6th, 2008 at 8:02 am
[...] burying every copy of the Federal and State Constitutions that they can find beneath gallons of DNR-approved goose poo. The second year is spent convincing the Republicans that there never really WAS any expressed [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 9:37 am
They are put on as a volunteer effort by the River Keeper Group.
5th item down….. http://www.mkeriverkeeper.org/support/volunteer.htm
They use to be painted. It is my understanding these last longer than the painted ones.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:44 am
August 6th, 2008 at 10:05 am
What is the liberal viewpoint of this?
–The government should do something about this.
–Wait, the DNR is a part of our state government.
I don’t think it’s such a good idea to have the government run healthcare, if the DNR is polluting, what will the government heathcare system do, give you the wrong operation, prescription… and then tell you to not worry about it?
So what we have here is DNR polluting, state workers using parking passes for personal use, politicians jet setting… all on the liberal dollar. You can not expect to get your community back if the rich government is frivoulously spending and corrupt. May want to issue a ticket to that worker, fire the employees that stole the parking spots, and ground the jets. May want to stop sending monies to other countries and start rebuilding WI instead.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:06 am
I think you guys are making a big deal out of nothing. If the rain water had flushed the goose poop into the storm drain, it would have been fine, but becuase some kid dumped 5 gallons of what was actually, clean, sanitized, bactertica free poop, people are throwing a hissy fit? That doesn’t make sense to me. “Shit happens” (Pun intended)They admitted it, apologized, end of story. I visit the park on a regular basis, and the cleaning of the goose poop is greatly appreciated.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:17 am
The liberal viewpoint is that the DNR or MMSD can flush piss and shit into the lake whenever it pleases. No big deal.
But drilling for oil is out of the question, because we need to be stewards for the environment.
I’ll make a point that proves liberals are not honest about this “stewardship” crap.
Over 70% of our oil has to be shipped from overseas to us, yet libs are afraid of possible environmental impact of drilling here? Which one poses a greater risk to the environment?
August 6th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Rose, I agree, since its no big deal, let’s get rid of the DNR.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Rose, are you going for a swim today?
Nice attempt at liberal spin.
Kid? Kids don’t drive equipment like that.
Apologized? Next time I get stopped for speeding, I’ll just say “sorry” and be on my way.
Rain washing goose shit into the storm sewer?
Have you ever seen goose shit?
Lastly, if rain could have taken care of the problem with no consequences, why was the taxpayer paying this “shit” head?
August 6th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Rose, you missed the point completely. Of course geese can poop directly over the lake, too.
As a private entity, just try to say “shit happens” to the DNR.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Their machine has a 125 gallon capacity. I highly doubt that it was only 5 or 15 gallons that got dumped from scrubbing that amount of sidewalk space.
If it was only 5 gallons that was being dumped it would take less than 20 seconds to expel it…hardly long enough for someone to complain that it was causing congestion in the parking area.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Rose,
The big deal is the fact that there is a double standard when it comes to “green” expectations between private business and government.
If McDonalds had flushed 15 gallons of fryer grease into a storm sewer, the looney left wouldn’t shut up about it for months.
But since in this case it’s government doing the polluting, it’s somehow o.k.
We’ve seen this exact same double standard applied to the worthless MMSD everytime the purges raw sewage into Lake Michigan to create that wonderful brown spot on the lake everytime you fly overhead.
Imagine if you will the reaction if a private business purged the exact same amount of raw seweage into Lake Michigan, as the MMSD does.
The fashionable outrage would be deafening.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:39 am
hmm, I guess it should read: “What’s good for the gander is good for Mother Goose.”
August 6th, 2008 at 11:17 am
The difference between MMSD and Dnr in this case is that MMSD doesnt apologize and will continue to dump in the lake. The manager apologized and CORRECTED their actions. Even government can make a mistake. The DNR acknowledged and corrected. They were honest about the mix up. Obviously they weren’t trying to ‘cover’ anything up since the employee was photographed in broad daylight in a high populated area. You all seem to think it’s a conspiracy or something.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Jaeson, great point. On the left it’s perfectly acceptable for the government to profit off of Exxon to the tune of $20 Billion in the first 2 qauarters of ’08, but God forbid that stockholders make 8% on their investment.
Drop a candy wrapper get a ticket.
Dumb goose shit directly into the storm sewer get a pay check.
Oil companies profiting bad.
Government profiting good.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am
The DNR may have apologized and corrected when they got caught, but it is a big deal, pouring detergent and crap down the storm drain. How many fish did they kill. Their sole purpose is to protect the natural resource, not pollute it. They have turned into a money grubbing ticketing machine, enforcing abstract rules and regulations that only they can understand or break, in the name of the natural resource.
I believe MMSD was fined for polluting the natural resource, yet again burning the tax payers dollars. Where did the money go? Where did the money come from? This is our government in action, don’t let them get involved in anything, for they can be assured to screw it up. It is a big deal when the DNR pollutes. Obviously you have not been fined by the DNR for breaking some obscure rule, they are extremely strict when others break the rules, but simply apologize when they take advantage and break their own rules.
Governmental corruption is a big deal, and it wrecks the community as whole.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am
“they were honest about the mix up”
Mix up?
You need to get out into the real world Rose.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Ron (and others),
According to Tennant technical specifications, the capacity of the waste hopper on an M-20 is 276 Liters, or about 72 gallons.
The machine was purchased by the DNR on PO# NMH00001240 issued 6/3/2008 in the amount of $ 45,280.40. The machine was purchased from Tennant Sales and Service Company as a “used” machine.
Rose, I can tell you honestly, as a guy that chases his tail quite often on things like this, that if we hadn’t had that photo, there would have been no admission by the DNR, and for all I know, they’d still be emptying the thing into the storm drain. You’ll just have to take me at my word on that.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:46 am
The DNR in action: http://www.livinglakecountry.com/OconomowocFocus/Story.aspx?storyId=755998
August 6th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
$45,000 goose crap picker uppers, and law suits against restaurants for being too close to the water on a little lake.
Government budgets a cut to the bone??
August 6th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Ok, to sum things up then:
45,280.40 spent to stop the pollution caused by the transplanted geese.
Pollution dump on MMSD or storm drain.
MMSD or DNR dumps it back into the lake anyways.
$$$$ Money invested into revitalizing Bradford beach.
Vaste adminstrations and employees hired to enforce and maintain.
Turds and toxic waste float up on beach.
Usless beach, fines levied, tax payers monies used up.
More regulation and rules, stricter policies, more administration and employees.
Sounds like Milwaukee at its best!
August 6th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Rose,
The difference between MMSD and Dnr in this case is that MMSD doesnt apologize and will continue to dump in the lake.
This is one instance that we know of. If they’ve done something like this once, you can bet they’ve done it many times before.
Regardless, the real point here is the blatant double standard in the left’s green expectations between business and government.
The manager apologized and CORRECTED their actions.
I’m not sure that capitalizing every letter in the entire word makes that word any more meaningful.
Even government can make a mistake.
Even? Government is notorious for being prolific in making mistakes, particularly Milwaukee government.
They were honest about the mix up.
Because they were caught.
Obviously they weren’t trying to ‘cover’ anything up since the employee was photographed in broad daylight in a high populated area.
Doing so would only make them look far more slimy than everyone already knows they are. II’m sure they’d be aware of that.
You all seem to think it’s a conspiracy or something.
It’s no conspiracty, just a double standard.
If it were a private business doing this exact same thing, there would be protesters with arm bands and fight songs marching outside that business for weeks.
But because it’s government doing the polluting, leftist loons are going to defend the actions till their dying breath.
Once again this illustrates that hypocrisy is the foundation of all liberal thought.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Gus,
Yeah, I want to know when we’ll start punishing “Windfall Tax Revenues.”
August 6th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Look, what those of you who were bothered by this “caught in the act” story of government ignoring its own rules (including our more left-leaning visitors who were willing to admit that this story bothered them) need to understand is this:
Had a private business been caught introducing anything other than storm water into a storm drain (in this case, the waste by-product of a cleaning operation), and furthermore, admitted to doing it several times prior, there would be fines levied, and there would probably be a state-coordinated investigation and clean-up effort involving countless trucks and people in Tyvek suits (at the cost to the violator) in an effort to determine the scope of the offense, and whether any further cleanup operations were required.
(Yes, I know, sometimes all the commas in the world can’t clean up a horrid run-on sentence.)
In this case, it was “only” 15 gallons (which, candidly, having the information I have now, I might have questioned a bit), but ask yourself this: Had it been 15 gallons of waste oil, would you be more disturbed? How about 15 gallons of mineral spirits? How is a combination of asphalt oils, cleaning agents, and goose feces, honestly, that much more acceptable?
August 6th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
5 gallons/15 gallons – so they said. I don’t believe they were being truthful – I’m JUST saying.
My two cents worth is – HOW do you explain the sewer back ups to all the home owners in Milwaukee County?
OOH, and those that also didn’t get much to fix up all the damage they did have.
This Sh*t, and other sh*t like it clogs drains and sewer systems – another reason “not to dump”.
By the way, it is all a State Law, in addition to a city law.
I’m JUST saying.
You know what they say Rose, the truth hurts – “don’t” it?
August 6th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Bruce, there is more to the story.
If you (not this “kid”) were operating this cadillac of a machine and you’d drive hither and yon picking up goose do-do……..would it ever occur to you that a storm drain was the proper place to empty the goose scat? When you were handed the keys to $45,000 machine, didn’t you have a plan for where to empty the shit? It wasn’t a “mix-up”. The only thing that was mixed up, was goose shit and lake water.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Honest mistakes is exactly how the DNR makes their money.
You step over the wrong invisible line or catch the wrong fish, help your son with the fish he caught… all honest mistakes, but big money for the DNR.
In addition, try parking downtown, you will get a ticket, but the governmental employees get to park anywhere-anytime with their passes.
Hmmm… so if your in the DNR you can exploit the natural resources. If your a governmental employee you park where ever you want. If you a good old boy on particular department, you can speed and drunk drive. If your in the IRS you can mysteriously “lose” money. If your the governer/administration you can steal from other budgets and obtain retirement parachute. Sounds like if your in healthcare administration you will get to exploit good healtcare, but what about everyone else, that is paying for it.
Why is it that if I don’t pay taxes, I go to jail?
The government is not the solution to all of our problems and is seriously corrupt.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Not to worry “hope” is on the way.
We are the people we’ve been waiting for.
Obama/Rezko ’08!!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I guarantee there was a brain-storming session on what to do with the problem of goose crap all over the lakefront:
One guy said, “Let’s just spray it off with a power-washer from the back of a pickup.”
Then, someone realized this would cause it to drain into the lake, via the storm sewers.
This is where the scrubber idea floated in. Trade magazines and websites where perused and budgets where adjusted and….shazam…$45K later they accomplish the same thing that the power-washer would have.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I wonder if that thing has cup holders.
Or is that extra?
What does it use for fuel?
Are the tires inflated properly?
August 6th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Interesting:
Part of the settlement is:
Runoff pollution, like goose feces and cleaning chemicals dumped into Lake Michigan?
I wonder if Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club would be interested in this? I’ll bet they would if a Republican was Governor.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Patrick, Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club could not be reached for comment.
Apparently they were at the bank.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I’m going to rip a page out of the J/S NewsWatch playbook here, but let’s give it a try:
Have you been the recipient of a fine from any state or municipal agency for dumping something in a storm sewer?
We’d like to talk to you, confidentially, if you wish. You can reach us at tips@badgerblogger.com
August 6th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
HAHA…good one, Bruce.
I shake my head when the Urinal does that.
They got it from Jerry Springer, et al.
“Are you a transvestite with no thumbs and think your dog is cheating on you?…call us.”
August 7th, 2008 at 9:07 am
When I first moved to Milwaukee my welcoming gift was a ticket for parking in front of my house. I was sorry for my actions, but had to pay the ticket anyways. When some weeds grew a little to high before I could afford to put the lawn in, I was ticketed and even though I promptly cut them down, I was charged by the city greens keeper anyways. I was sorry and unaware of my crimes, but I was required to pay the tickets anyways. When Doyle stole the monies from the transportation budget for pushing his agenda forward, I was required to refill it with a wheel tax and raised registration fee.
At least now I can save lots of money by diverting my raw sewage into the storm drain. Now, after I change my oil on the car I simple dump it in the storm drain. The DNR will surely make excuses for me.